Review of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) by Jesse O — 28 Jun 2016

There's obviously nothing about this film that will compare to the classic war satires like Dr. Strangelove or Delta Farce. The latter is obviously meant as sarcasm. Though, to be fair, this movie wasn't meant to be a satirical film or anything of the sort, it just recounts Kim Baker's experiences as a war journalist and the struggles she faces adjusting to a culture that's vastly different than the one she grew up in.

And it's a pretty solid movie at that. I don't really even know where I begin with this movie. At the very least it isn't as ass backwards as Rock the Kasbah was. Not saying that the film doesn't reinforce some of the stereotypes people have of the Muslim world.

And this is coming from someone that absolutely despises religion, on all forms. But, at the very least, even with that, it doesn't come across as a mean-spirited and ignorant. Plus, a lot of that's there is stuff that we already know and that is how women are viewed in that society and how they're treated even worse than second class citizens.

That stuff has been more than obvious for a decade now and, while it's a shame that it's that way, it's also a society that I'm not a part of and I can't really go into any detail without coming across as a fool.

Anyway, I thought this was a pretty good movie. It definitely benefits from a good cast. Tina Fey and Martin Freeman are both always good and their chemistry is what makes the film enjoyable. The movie is solidly-written, but it's not the type of movie that, without Tina or Martin, would've reached this same level.

And I'm not saying that they were irreplaceable because, as much as I love both Tina and Martin, there are plenty of talented comedic actors that you could've cast. Though I do think that Tina Fey has a likability factor that's undeniable and that makes her easy to relate to, regardless of the situations she's put in.

Anyway, the point is that the script is solid, but I don't think it would've translated into an enjoyable movie without the right people involved. I knew nothing about Kim Baker before this movie and I don't think this movie, outside of letting me know about her experiences whilst covering the war, really let me know that much about her anyway.

I know she wrote a book, that this film was based on, duh, and I'm sure I'd get more about who Kim really is than the film. And that's always gonna be the case, books, undoubtedly, contain more details about each character than its film adaptation will.

And I'm sure they wanted to keep this relatively light and safe, for marketing purposes of course, but I just wish I got to know more about Kim than I did. A large part of Kim's personality is how, in Kabul, she's a 10, but in NYC she's a 4.

And I'm not saying that the real Kim Baker didn't go through this at some point, but the fact that the film makes it such a central part of her character left a lot to be desired. The movie, thankfully, moves away from that and focuses more on Kim trying to get a story that will air on her network, since stories about the war are not not getting ratings anymore, so that was better.

It focuses on how cutthroat the business is when the person she thought was her best friend is gonna take over her position in the network. That's considerably better than going on about Kim's looks and, I mean, Tina Fey is an attractive woman in any part of the world, so I thought that was silly.

There's also a hostage situation and all that. So the film does get better at around the 40-45 minute mark. And, really, overall, while the film is about the war, it's about as safe as can be.

There's this one scene where it's pretty graphic, but that's about it. With that said, this is a solid enough movie. It has enough laughs to not be a dead in the water comedy and it's got enough dramatic elements as well.

It's not great or anything, even though it probably should've been, but it's an enjoyable movie regardless. This is a rental at best.